Why go custom?

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If you do decide to push the peverbial boat out you could do a lot worse than talking to the bloke who made this.
He talks a lot of sense and will make you exactly what you want rather than what he thinks you want

http://www.paulusquiros.net/bikes/953sports

Citoyen du monde":3ue2a718 said:

I have seen many a custom geometry frame that may fit the rider on paper, but is thoroughly unrideable in practice. So don't go to a framebuilder who doesn't have a good understanding of geometry.

Click to expand...

I read an article by a bike fit guy in the USA describing how he found his colnago uncomfortable so got a frame made by a local builder exactly ( according to bike fit rules ) 'his size', but it just didn't work out as planned. The ride didn't feel right and was reflected in his times.
So he then went back to Colnago who explained ( can't remember exactly) that he should ride a smaller Colnago frame but with a longer stem. I other words the frame is designed to work and he needed to adapt...and guess what Mr Colnago was right, the new ride with an adapted ( stem etc ) frame just flew because the frame was a successful design...

I don't know if there's a definitive answer but thought this an interesting tale...

For me the problem is that I got into retro stuff because it gives me the opportunity to try out loads of different stuff. I can compare what a Reynolds frame rides like compared to a Columbus, what different geometries and so on do to different bikes, different components, different historical periods etc etc

That is the fascination of this whole Retrobike thing - and the reason why I've got a cellar full of different projects at various stages.

To me here's something fun about, say, building up the same frame with Campagnolo NR then trying again with Shimano Crane, or comparing the same components on different frames.

If you try to build the one perfect bike, you might lose that ability to compare different stuff. Personally, the idea of being stuck with just one bike - however perfect - doesn't appeal that much.

Johnny

Experimentation and tinkering in the man shed is all part of the enjoyment, and for me also is researching into components and design. For the price of an entry level Trek or Scott you can buy a few steelies and hours of fun